No man is an island entire of itself...

BENTON, AL - No man is an island entire of itself, but some are a peninsula. To Whom the Bell Tolls is the title of the classic poem published by John Donne in 1624 that starts with the famous lines "No man is an island entire of itself. Every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main". Donne was a poet back when the Catholic Church was illegal in England. He endured constant prejudice and harassment and was ultimately forced to join the Anglican church by King James I. To prove he was still Catholic, Donne fathered a dozen kids and was a devoted family man. He is best remembered as the founder of the "metaphysical” poets. Popular during their time, these poets were dismissed for many years as inferior because their work was so different from the other poetry of that time. Donne's work is today considered brilliant and his influence on literature is legendary. To Whom the Bell Tolls is about death and how we all die a little when one of us dies since we are all connected to God and to mankind. The poet ends with these lines... "Each man's death diminishes me, for I am involved in mankind. Therefore, send not to know for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for thee". Deep and enlightening at the same time. In Week 2 of the BDFL, the Bellcows were a peninsula and they made Benton's local community church bell toll 47 times to signify their stomping of the rusty Bullets on Sunday, 47-20. Count Hemmingway and Metallica among those who have capitalized on Donne's work over the years. I missed this one somehow back in 1984, but here is To Whom the Bell Tolls by Metallica (1984).

Final Scores

Complete 2020 BDFL scoring data from the Aladdin Scoring System (@$$)

The BDFL to go Hollywood in Week 6

TINSELTOWN - All The Right Moves (1983) does an excellent job of depicting high school football in the late 70s and early 80s. A tough game played for the love of the sport with pretty girls all around. Personally, I think there is a lot of Tom Cruise in Stefen Djordjevic, the defensive back/main character in the film. Cruise was kicked off the football team his senior year at Glen Ridge High in New Jersey and Djordjevic gets kicked off the Ampipe team in the movie. This is just one similarity, but I bet you there are even more Cruise subtleties in the film. This was Tommy’s first lead role and his performance would lead to many more. Cruise probably should have been nominated for an Oscar for his work, but low-budget sports drama flicks are seldom seen by the Academy’s blue hairs. However, this was the same year Louis Gossett Jr. won Best Supporting Actor for his role as Gunnery Sergeant Emil Foley in An Officer and a Gentleman, so who knows if he was considered. The nominee list didn’t look too strong to me.

You have to love the movie's setting of Ampipe, the small depressed western Pennsylvania town, and their passion for football. Filmed in Johnstown, PA, the steel mill town was the perfect backdrop for the blue-collar high school home team. My guess is Brookside, AL with their movie heritage, finished a close second. The Ampipe Bulldogs reminded me of the Fairfield Tigers who we played three times when I was at Gardendale (1977-79). Tough kids from tough neighborhoods, looking for a way out. The story line is believable enough with a few twists and turns, but it does have a happy ending. Along with Cruise, Lea Thompson, Chris Penn and Craig T. Nelson all play unforgettable roles that do an admirable job of depicting the dynamics of big-time high school football, the pressure involved, the family commitments and all the hard work that leaves lasting impressions on people’s lives. If you haven’t seen it in a while, the BDFL strongly encourages you to give it a look.

The soundtrack was not overly impressive and the film should have used more mainstream tunes from 1982-83 and there were a ton of good ones back then. So when we redub it, we plan to use this tune for one of the high school hallway scenes. Here is  You Got Lucky by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers (1982).

If we were willing to grant Cruise an honorary BDFL team, they would be known as the Glen Ridge Mavericks from his lead role in Top Gun that was to come later in 1986 after All The Right Moves. The Mavericks nickname beat out the Bulldogs, Thunder, Fighter Pilots, Gunners, Rangers, Outsiders, Monks, Travelers and Runners in a local name-the-team contest held by the Essex News Daily newspaper.

The BDFL’s annual Throwback Week in Week 6 is destined to produce some legendary Hollywood match-ups worthy of an Academy Award.